Recent Tasting Notes

I am not a picky tea drinker. I know some people only drink pure, unsweetened, unflavored loose-leaf which I admire but could never do—sure, I enjoy a cup of pure oolongy goodness, but I also like putting crazy things in my tea like cookie butter or milk candy. I also like teabags when they’re high-quality: I mean, you really can’t beat the convenience! I haven’t tried a whole lot of the nicer ones though, mostly grocery store offerings. The good ones I’ve tried have come almost exclusively from my local asian grocery store. So when I saw a few teabags in my fire sale/stash clearout box from Emilie (which got to me 2 days after I ordered it—talk about fast shipping!), I was pretty enthusiastic about trying them out.

The name of this is so wonderfully evocative—Black Raven! Makes me think of creepy poetry (obviously, since it’s named for Poe), dark nights, fog, strange noises… and it also makes me want to try my hand at a Lovecraft blend. But what would I flavor it with, madness and ooze? Black Raven is flavored with the much more appealing blackcurrant, which has become a favorite flavor of mine since I found out it’s the berry goodness in Paris. Plus this is decaf, which means I can safely drink it before bed. I am not really that affected by black teas normally, or at least I usually seem to think that… my sleep schedule is so weird that I’m trying to switch to only decaf and herbals and see if that helps. So this tea has an evocative name, one of my favorite flavors, AND no caffeine—a winner right from the start!

The bag doesn’t really smell like anything, but then again bagged teas usually don’t. Brewed, though, it’s nicely fragrant. This is a smooth, brisk, clean black—not overly complex, but warm and comforting. The blackcurrant is bright and lively, with jammy berry notes and that rich fruit flavor it brings to tea. This is so very English I feel like I should be sitting in a cafe in London drinking it! One of the best bagged blends I’ve had for sure.

Black Raven tea… conjures up a moody, mysterious sort of image, doesn’t it? This tea delivers on its promise, but truth be told, lighter, more delicate teas are more my speed. This tea is dark, dark, dark!

It’s full-bodied and deep yet brisk. A two minute steep is plenty. It doesn’t get too bitter or astringent unless I forget about it and let it steep over five minutes. The deep tones of robust black tea are dyed even darker with the indigo purple blackcurrant flavor, which is added at pitch perfect levels – prominent, but restrained enough to leave the character of the tea leaves in the spotlight.

Now, my boyfriend thinks this smells a bit like cat pee, especially the leaves before they are steeped – but he says the same thing about almost every other blackcurrant flavored or fragranced thing. I can overlook that, having been exposed to blackcurrant flavor in teas and and jams since childhood.

Eastern Shore Tea company suggests that you steep this with a whole cinnamon stick and sweeten with brown sugar, and in fact, I can’t think of a better way to drink this tea. The warm and woody spice of good, fresh cinnamon adds extra depth and the richness of brown sugar takes it over the top. Perfect for a dark, stormy night… if you work nights and don’t plan on sleeping, that is. Maybe it’s the placebo effect of the intense flavor, but this seems to pack enough of a caffeine wallop that I prefer drinking it when I need a serious energy boost!

I bought this tea without realizing that it was full of chamomile. I actively dislike chamomile! However, despite the chamomile blossoms scattered fairly liberally throughout this tea, they blend in to the mix rather subtly. It compliments the fruity added flavoring, but I think I’d like this better without the chamomile add-in. Sometimes I even pick out the chamomile before I brew this tea.

This green tea, like many others, is prone to getting really cooked-greens like if you make the mistake of using water that’s too hot! Even with quite cool water I still get a bit of that spinach-like tone, but the vegetal flavor makes perfect sense mixed with the peach flavoring… a cup of summer-time. The peachy flavoring is sweet and pleasant if bit artificial tasting – like peach candy rather than real ripe peaches. The fruit flavor is on the lighter side – which I prefer. It’s basically gone after the first steep.

I don’t care for it all that hot and without additives. However, with a bit of honey, a squeeze of lemon or lime, and some fresh ginger, it makes an easy-drinking iced tea. I’ll use up my stash of this over the summer, but I’m not interested in restocking.

Preparation

This is a very enjoyable flavored black tea. Customers to Columbia Kate’s had been asking about this flavor often enough that I finally added it to the inventory. Apparently it was a local favorite in years past. I’m glad I did as it has become one of the more popular teas even among guests having it for the first time.

The primary tones are the hazelnut, tho not too strong. The nuttyness is mellowed by the natural sweetness of the fruits and slight spicyness of the orange. I’m not a big hazelnut fan, as it is reminiscent of flavored coffee but I would put this tea above any hazelnut flavor I have had in the past.

Preparation

I like this tea for when I can’t decide between a fruit flavored black tea, or a spiced black tea, because it’s both! Honestly, I don’t think this one is particularly remarkable, but I happen to have a fondness for both apricot and cloves, so I’m a fan. (And no, I’ve never eaten a fresh apricot, so I can’t judge if it tastes like the real thing or not.)

This is my first tea with rose petals so I was very exciting my this purchase. I love roses so this may be a tad biased. This tea is delicate and would be great for an afternoon tea with scones. It smells really good as well. For my net cup I may steep it for a couple of more minutes. If you love roses, this tea is for you!

Preparation

I’m so excited to drink a local tea! I was pleasantly surprised this morning with drinking this. Subtle hints of vanilla and cherry makes this black tea enjoyable to drink. I steeped it for 5 minutes and it wasn’t bitter so I’m thinking if you left the bad in it won’t turn bitter. I’m glad I picked this up.

Preparation

This was the most flavorful of the four Eastern Shore teas I’ve tried, but that isn’t saying much. I’m surprised this was a black tea, looking at the description here. It certainly didn’t seem like a black tea. There was a spice flavor but it wasn’t too strong.

This one didn’t have too much flavor, but I could have swore it was lemongrass. It isn’t listed in the ingredients. Maybe it was a weak orange. I didn’t taste cinnamon either. I like my tea with a ton of flavor. This isn’t it.

This tea is a bit strange. The smell is definitely chocolate. The initial taste is undeniably hazelnut. Unfortunately, the black tea gets lost somewhere in the mix. As the tea cools there is more of a chocolate flavor, but I wish the tea was more robust.

Again, not much flavor for a chocolate tea. Strawberries too. Really no flavor here for me… I don’t know… it seems like there should be a specific steep temperature and time for each tea, and each tea is different. I try not to pour just boiled water on any tea, because I think it might “burn” the flavor out of a tea.

This one sounded really good, but I may have steeped it too hot. There isn’t much flavor here.. but I’m confused at what the base of this tea is. Is it a black tea? It just mentions the flavors… the website does say it has caffiene though.

I received a sample of this tea from Jessica! Thanks! The smell of the dry teabag is very much of raspberry. I steeped this for a bit longer than most would steep a white tea because I like them a little stronger. The taste of the tea is initially the smooth white tea followed by a hefty fruity aspect. This is much better than I thought it would be!

This tea is perfect for autumn/winter. I have to say, I adore this tea. All the different flavors come together beautifully. I prefer to drink this solo and not with food because the ginger can be really overpowering.